Apparatus for



No. 623,I87. Patented Apr. l8, I899.

0. E. SIMMONS. APPARATUS FOR APPLYING STAY WIRES T0 WIRE FENCES.

[Application filed Nov. 21, 1898,)

(No Model.)

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORRIN E. SIMMONS, OF SOUTH BYRON, \VISOONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES HENRY MOLEAN, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING STAY-WIRES TO WIRE FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,187, dated April 18, 1899.

Application filed November 21, 1398. Serial No. 697,023. (No model.)

- citizen of the United States, and a resident of South Byron, in the county of Fond du Lac and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Applying Stay-Wires to Vire Fences; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to apparatus for applying stay-wires to wire fences; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combinations of parts, as will be fully set forth hereinafter and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the winding device, partly broken away to better illustrate certain details of construction. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the upper part of said device. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view on the line 3 .3 of Fig. 2. Fig. at is an enlarged detail view, partly in section, of the shank, lower cog-wheel, operating-lever, and yielding stop-pin of my winding device. Fig. 5 is a view illustrating the operation of my said device, drawn to a reduced scale; and Fig. 6 is an elevation of the clamping device. I

With the ordinary wire fences in common use one great objection is the liability of the sections of wire between the posts to sag and the ease with which two adjacent sections of said wire can be separated or crowded apart, thereby affording opportunities for the escape of animals from fields fenced therewith; and the principal object of my present invention is to afford a rapid, economical, and convenient means of applying stay-wires to such fences, and thereby remedying or obviating the objections hereinbefore named.

To that end my apparatus includes a clamping device for holding the wires of the fence proper rigidly at the desired distances apart and a winding device for applying the vertically-disposed stay-wires to the fence-wires while the latter are thus rigidly held.

I will first describe the clamping device,-

which is shown in elevation in Fig. 6 and which comprises two parallel flat bars Aand B, the bar A having a series of perforations a a a therethrough and the bar B being hinged, as by pivot b and foot-piece c, to the bar A.

O O 0 represent a series of sliding clips (preferably formed by doubling strips of sheet metal) which are provided with holes to register with the perforations a a in the bar A, on which said clips slide, the said clips being first adjusted the proper distance apart, acoordin g to the spaces between the fence-wires, and then held in the adjusted positions by pins or bolts d d. Each clip has a notch ein its projecting end to receive a fence-wire, (the latter being shown atD D D in Fig. 5,) and. then the bar Bis brought up to hold the wires in place within the notched ends of the clips 0 and a hinged loop E dropped over the top of said bar B to lock them together and prevent the fence-wires D from dropping out of place.

Referring next to the winding device, E represents the shank thereof, and F the handle, the latter preferably terminating in a loop f, as shown, at the lower end, whilethe upper end of the shank is enlarged laterally, forming a head G in the shape of a flat ring, divided at the top by a slot g, on either side of which are curved lips H H, which serve to continue and widen the said slot g while adjacent to the upper end of the shank proper. The head G has two lateral projections h h, to which are secured the. ends of the outer legs 2' 2' of a yoke I, while at the apex of said yoke and parallel with said legs is an opentopped tube J, which projects back through the center of the opening in the ring-shaped head G.

K is a disk which forms the face of a cogged wheel L and which has a hub j mounted on the described open-topped tube J, both the said'hub and the combined disk and Wheel being formed with a slot 0, which extends through the periphery of said disk and wheel, so as to coincide, when the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the slot gin the head G and with the top opening of the said tube J. From the front face of the disk K there projects a stud M, on which is mounted a revoluble metallic antifrictionsleeve 'm, which is designed to receive a coil of the stay-wire N, (of a proper length to form the whole vertical stay at the point to which it is to be applied,) the other endof this wire passing through a hole n in the said disk and wheel K L.

O is a cog-wheel of greater diameter than that of the wheel L, with whose teeth it meshes, the wheel being mounted on a stud .0 on the shank E, while below wheel 0 is another cog-wheel P, mounted 011 a stud p 011 said shank E and in mesh with the said wheel 0. To this last-named wheel P there is rigidly secured an operating-lever or crank-arm Q, and the inner surface of said wheel P is formed with an inclined slot q for engagement with a pin R, passing through the shank E to form a stop for the said wheel P when the straight end wall of the slot (1 comes against said pin R, the latter being held to place by a spring 0' to permit a yield of said pin, as hereinafter explained.

The operation of my device is as follows: A coil of the stay-wire N is slipped upon the stud M, with one end of the wire projecting through the hole 02 in the disk wheel K L, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, the object of the disk K being to protect the cogs or teeth of said wheel L from possible entanglement with the wire. The clamping device A B O is applied to the fence-wires D D D, which are to be supplied with the vertical stay-wire, so that said fence-wires may be held rigid, as already explained. Then the lever 0r crank arm Q of the winding device is turned until the parts of said device'are in the respective relative positions shown in Fig. l-that is, with the slot 9 in the head G in line with the slot 7c in the disk wheel KLand itshubjand withthe open top of the tube J. lrVhen this occurs, the pin R is against the straight end wall of the inclinedslot q, as clearly shown in dotted lines in said Fig.1, thus forminga stop against backward action of the wheel P and keeping the described slots in line with each other, and, furthermore, when the stop-pin R is in this position the operator is therebyinformed without examination that said slots are in the described operative position for beginning the winding operation. The winding device is then applied to one of the strands D of the fence-wire, the lips H H of the head G straddling said wire, and as the device is pushed against the wire the latter is guided through the slots g it into the open-topped tube J, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Then the end of the wire which projects through the hole n of the disk-wheel K L is twisted around the wire D sufficiently to hold the same, and then the crank-lever Q is revolved, which serves to wrap or wind the stay-wire N one or two turns around the wire D, as shown in Fig. 3, and then the winding device is withdrawn and applied, in like manner as before, to the next horizontal strand D of the fence-wire, which latter is similarly guided within the opentopped tube J and the crank-lever Q again revolved to similarly warp or wind the wire N once or twice around that wire D, and so on with the next until the whole coil of stay-wire N which was on the stud M of the Winding device has been transferred to the wires D D D of the fence in vertical line, as shown in Fig. 5. In thatfigure it has been shown as starting from the top strand D; but it will be understood that it may begin with the bottom strand D of the fenceand work upward, as preferred, and, as already stated, it is preferable tohave the original coil of stay-wire N on the stud M of just the proper length to make one entire vertical stay for the wire fence at one point, after which a fresh'coil of stay-wire N is slipped on the stud M, as before, for the next complete stay. .The metallic sleeve m on the stud serves as an antifriction device and enables the wire coil to unwind more rapidly, so that the whole operation takes'but a very short time, and my device will work rapidly and well whether the strands D of the fence-wire are smooth or barbed. \Vhile I have shown the spring r,which bears against the stop-pin R, as on the outside of the shank E, this isimmaterial, and, if preferred, the stop-pin may be made like the latch of a doorlock and seated in the other side of the shank with a coiled spring under the head of the latch,as either construction would accomplish the same result, but the form shown is simple and eflicient.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In apparatus for applying stay-wires to wire fences, the combination of two parallel fiat bars, one bar having a series of perforations therethrough; a foot-piece rigidly secured to one bar and pivotally connected to the other bar; a series of sliding clips vertically movable upon one bar and provided with holes adapted to register with the perforations in the bar on which said clips slide, and said clips having projecting notched ends for engagement with the other bar; means for holding said clips in the positions to which they have been adjusted; and a retaining loop hinged to the upper end of one bar and adapted to be dropped over the top of the other bar, substantially as set forth.

'2. In apparatus for applying stay-wires to wire fences, the combination of a suitable shank terminating in a handle at one end, and a slotted head at the other end, an opentopped tube projecting laterally from and secured to said head for receiving and supporting a strand of the fence-wires; a revoluble slotted disk for supporting a coil of staywire, and means for revolving said disk and carrying the said coil of stay-Wire about said open topped tube, through said disk, and thence around the supported strand of fencewire, substantially as set forth.

1 3. In apparatus for applying stay-wires to wire fences, the combination of a suitable shank terminating in a handle at one end and in an enlarged annular slotted head at the other end; a yoke secured to said head; a central open-topped tube secured to said yoke, and extending back through the central opening in said head; a slotted small cog-wheel having a slotted hub mounted on said opentopped tube,and said wheel having an opening therethrough; a stud projecting outwardly from said wheel; a larger cog-wheel journaled on said shank below the cog-wheel first named,

and in mesh with the latter; a lower smallcog-wheel also journaled on said shank and in mesh with the larger intermediate cog- 'wheel; and an operating-lever or crank-arm slotted from the center to and through the peripheries thereof, and said disk and cogwheel having an opening for the passage of wire therethrough; a stud projecting out wardly from the disk face of said Wheel; a revoluble antifriction-sleeve on said stud; a larger cog-wheel journaled on said shank, below the cog-Wheel first named, and in mesh with the latter; a lower cog-wheel also journaled on said shank, corresponding in size with the upper cog-wheel and in mesh with the intermediate cogrwheel, and having an inclined slot in its inner surface; a spring-- controlled stop-pin for engagement with said slot; and an operating-lever or crank-arm rigidly secured to said lower cog-wheel, substantially as set forth. K

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at South Byron, in the county of Fond du Lac and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two Witnesses.

Y ORRIN E. SIMMONS.- 

